"Mommie Dearest" Case

"Mommie Dearest" Case

OCTOBER 9--A Nebraska woman whose two young boys were forced to watch the film “Mommie Dearest” while duct-taped to their chairs has been jailed on child abuse counts, according to court records.

Mary Lucas, 28, was charged this week with a pair of felonies stemming from the bizarre disciplining of her sons, age five and six, in late-August.

In an arrest affidavit, police allege that Lucas (seen at right) was aware that her boyfriend Glenn Oliver, 29, was “duct taping the children as a form of punishment.”

During questioning, Lucas admitted that she made her two boys watch “Mommie Dearest” after the children said that she was “the meanest mommy.” Lucas, who described the film as “Hollywood’s perfect representation of a mean mother,” said that her own mother “made her watch the movie when she was 4 years old.”

Lucas claimed that she was not present in her Nebraska City home when Oliver “duct taped the boys to the chairs and made them watch” the 1981 film about movie star Joan Crawford’s callous and abusive upbringing of her adopted daughter Christina. She did acknowledge, however, telling Oliver that “the kids were to watch” the drama.

Police learned of the taping from a witness who provided them with photos showing the boys “bound by silver gray duct tape around the mouth, wrist, chest, ankles, and head,” according to court records. Additionally, the children “were restrained to chairs by the duct tape.”

When confronted by cops, Oliver said he had been watching the children while Lucas was at work, and claimed that he was “playing with the boys and he duct taped them to the chairs.” He later admitted to taping the children “because he was tired and frustrated” because they were restless and not paying attention to “Mommie Dearest.” So, investigators noted, he bound them “so they could not move and would have to watch the movie.”

In interviews with child welfare workers, both boys said that their mother was aware that Oliver had taped them. One of the boys--as well as Lucas’s young daughter--said that Lucas was present when “Daddy Glenn” bound the two boys.

Oliver, who was previously charged with child abuse and false imprisonment, is locked up at the Otoe County jail. Lucas was booked into the same facility, where she is being held in lieu of $10,000 bond. (3 pages)